parent volunteers at school Archives

Mar 04 2025

How to Get Involved in Your Kid’s School

In the modern age of communication, schools inundate parents with messages about schedules, coffee with the principal, upcoming events, and opportunities to participate in training. Like most parents I have spoken to, I often save those emails and texts for later, hoping that “future me” will be able to find a way to participate more meaningfully. In most schools, a small percentage of parents are highly involved, a few more come to monthly events and meetings, and the majority only come to major events like Back to School Night and Parent Conferences. I am one of the “Monthly Event” parents, and my wife and I are constantly trying to determine how we can get more engaged.

But some would ask, “Why bother?” If I go to the big events, I support my child by helping with homework. I provide meaningful learning opportunities at home. I also make sure my child attends school. Why do I have to take time to go to campus? This is an especially pertinent question given that many schools only offer engagement opportunities between 8 AM and 5 PM. This means parents have to leave work early or take time off to come to the school to support.

What Our Kids Observe

The answer is in the perception of the child. Our involvement at our child’s school reinforces the value and importance of education. It solidifies the child’s understanding that the adults in their life are working together to make sure the child gets the best education possible. It also helps to build relationships and understanding between teachers, staff, and parents making it easier for that team to collaborate and more difficult for the child to play adults against each other. When school adults and home adults are working in partnership to provide a great educational experience, the student will take his or her education more seriously and the adults will be able to better meet the needs of the student.

Strategies to Get Involved

So how can you get involved? Here are some tips for getting engaged in a way that is meaningful to you:

If you are the parent of a child with special needs or the parent of an English Learner (EL), inquire about the opportunities your school has for you. Schools are required to have a School Advisory Council that includes parents as members, and they have to have an EL Parent Advisory Council. These meetings are led by the school principal and attended by a variety of stakeholders, including parents!
Also, if your child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), you should attend and engage in your child’s IEP meeting! Often parents think the educators know best, and they do have a lot of strategies that are great for your child. But so do you! You know your child best and you can offer a lot that would help them succeed.
Most schools are looking for volunteers to help with field trips or fundraisers, and many schools would love to have some more adults around to help with supervision. Ask your school’s administration how you can sign up to be a parent volunteer.
Bring fruit or water to your school’s sporting events. Of course, make sure you check in with the coach or athletic director first. The kids will love to have some orange slices or snacks after the game. This could make you the football hero mom/dad!
When you see a need, offer your help! Instead of just bringing concerns forward, jump in like a partner. If you see traffic is crazy during drop-off, ask if you can be trained to help direct traffic a couple of days per week. If you see that the kids look bored during recess, offer to bring in arts and crafts the kids could do in the lunch area. If your kid’s teachers seem tired, bring them some coffee and donuts!

No matter how you get involved, think of a way that fits for you and just jump in. When you do, talk to your child about what you are doing and how you are engaging at the school. This should lead to more conversations with your child and a lasting impression of the importance of their education.

Kevin Myers

Dr. Kevin Myers is an Executive Administrator for YPI Charter Schools and the Principal at Bert Corona Charter School. He has served the Los Angeles community as a teacher, administrator, and grant director for over 20 years. He has a passion for developing teachers and educational leaders to engage in the challenging work of bringing equity to our schools and our communities. Dr. Myers has developed an expertise in supporting underserved communities, building effective and cohesive school leadership teams, and engaging parents to uplift their communities through engagement at their children’s schools. He wrote his dissertation on teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction and is a strong advocate for supporting and working with teachers to build a strong and successful school community. In addition to his work at YPI Charter Schools, Dr. Myers is also a faculty member at Cal State Fresno and works with student teacher candidates to earn their credentials as they work through the CalState TEACH program.

www.GenParenting.com

Sep 17 2024

Parent Volunteers At Your Child’s School

Parent engagement is vital to the culture of a school. Too often, parent engagement is thought of in terms of getting parents to the school for a presentation, or engaging in a fundraiser to fund new classroom technologies. As we all know, parents are our students’ first teachers, and it is the role of the school to provide opportunities for parents to engage in meaningful ways. Just like our students, all of the parents at a school bring their own set of skills and their own, varied needs. Therefore, parent engagement cannot just be a “one-size-fits-all” approach where parents are invited to campus but never asked to participate in the work of educating our children. A parent engagement program needs to be varied, stimulating, and useful to both school programming and initiatives and also for the parents showing up to support. [Read more…]

Kevin Myers

www.GenParenting.com

Dec 05 2023

Parent Roles on School Committees

It’s that time of year! Schools are desperately reaching out to parents to provide extended services that may include:

Volunteering in your child’s classroom or lunchtime supervision support
Fundraising for the school or a student group
Driving for field trips or sports activities
Acting as a leader for the Parent-Teacher-Student Association
Serving on a school or district advisory team for curriculum adoption, school plan development, special education services, English language learner services, Title I services, gifted or talented services, or local education bond oversight
Providing added after school or weekend services

[Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.

Apr 30 2019

Benefits of Volunteering At Your Child’s School

My daughters have been very fortunate to attend an elementary school which offers a parent participation program. This type of alternative education program emphasizes parent involvement with classroom learning, whether it be to accompany students on a field trip, prepare classroom materials at home prior to the teacher’s lesson, or to read with a small group of students. The idea is that students who receive support from multiple adults will have a more enriched learning experience.

How to Volunteer at School

Even if your children are not in a specific parent participation program, you can still volunteer in your child’s school. There are many benefits for you and your children when you seek out opportunities and get involved with your child’s education. Here’s my top 10! [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Discovering the joy of teaching while in high school, Jaime pursued her B.A. in English at Santa Clara University. She also received a teaching credential and a M.A. in Education Administration from Santa Clara University. Jaime taught English Language Arts at Rancho Middle School, motivating and inspiring young people to become effective communicators and contributors in their community. From being a Middle School English Language Arts/English Language Development teacher to becoming a stay-at home mom, Jaime is an education consultant who presents literacy workshops. Her workshops focus on a combination of her ten years of teaching expertise with tried-and-true experiences that she uses with her own children. Jaime is also a Teacher Consultant with the San Jose Area Writing Project. Jaime’s mission is to share effective reading and writing strategies with families to encourage literacy.